Toy cow

ABSTRACT

A toy cow has a body on wheels containing a sounder having an inlet chamber, an outlet chamber, and an action chamber containing a vibratory reed. An expanding actuator diaphragm communicates with the inlet chamber, and an expandible reservoir diaphragm communicates with the action chamber. A bleed hole extends between the inlet chamber and the action chamber, and a tubular pull cord is secured to the sounder in communication with the inlet chamber and extends forward of the body to a squeeze bulb for forcing air through the cord to actuate the sounder to produce a moo sound.

United States Patent [1 1 Crawford Feb. 19, 1974 TOY COW Primary ExaminerL0ui s G. Mancene Assistant ExaminerJ. Q. Lever R I h wt 1 [75] Inventor w Cm East Aurora Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Cumpston, Shaw &

Stephens [73] Assignee: The Quaker Oats Company,

Chicago, Ill. D -7 72 [57] ABSTRACT [22] Filed 19 A toy cow has a body on wheels containing a sounder [2]] App]. No.: 313,100 having an inlet chamber, an outlet chamber, and an action chamber containing a vibratory reed. An ex- 52 us. Cl. 46/98 Panding actuatmdiaphmgm the [51] Int Cl A63h 5/00 inlet chamber, and an expandible reservoir d aphragm [58] Fie'ld 46/98 44 communicates with the action chamber. A bleed hole extends between the inlet chamber and the action [56] References Cited chamber, and a tubular pull cord is secured to the sounder in communication with the inlet chamber and UNITED STATES-PATENTS extends forward of the body to a squeeze bulb for Crawford et al .t forcing air through the cord to actuate the ounder to 3,010,252 11/1961 Crawford et al.... 46/98 produce a moo Sound 3,545,125 l2/197O Okuma 46/44 4 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures PATENTED 9'974 3 792 550 sum 1 [IF 2 PAIENI D FEB 1 91914 SHEET 2 BF 2 FIG. 3

1 TOY cow Toy cows on wheels have long been popular toys, and many of these have made moo sounds. However, the invention involves recognition of a better sounder for a toy cow to make a more authentic and entertaining sound more controllable by the child operating the toy. The invention also includes some action features for a toy cow and generally aims at economy, simplicity, attractiveness, safety, ruggedness, durability and entertainment capacity in a toy cow that is operable in a variety of ways by a child.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The inventive toy cow has a body on wheels containing a sounder having an inlet chamber, an action chamber, and an outlet chamber. An expandible actuator diaphragm is secured to the sounder in communication with the inlet chamber, and a wall has a bleed hole between the inlet chamber and the action chamber. A vibratory reed is mounted in the action chamber, and an expandible reservoir diaphragm is secured to the sounder in communication with the action chamber. A tubular pull cord is secured to the sounder in communication with the inlet chamber and extends forward out of the body, and a squeeze bulb is on the forward end of the tubular pull cord for forcing air through the cord to actuate the sounder to produce a moo sound.

DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a partially cut-away, side-elevational view of the preferred embodiment of the inventive toy with the right rear wheel removed;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary, partially cut-away, plan view of the rear end of the toy of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the sounder for thetoy of FIG. 1 with the cover removed.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Toy cow has a body 11 formed of molded plastic and supported on wheels 12. Head 13 is supported on body 11 on pivot 14 for pivoting between the solid and broken-line positions as illustrated. A sounder 15 is held by supports 16, 17 and 18 inside body 11 to make a moo sound, and sounder 15 has an inlet chamber 20, an action chamber 21, and an outlet chamber 22 as best shown in FIG. 3. A vibratory reed 23 is arranged in action chamber 21 to provide the desired sound.

Sound 15 is preferably formed with a base or body 24 and a cover piece 25, and cover 25 is omitted from the view of FIG. 3. Cover piece 25 carries an inlet pipe 26 connected to a tubular pull cord 27 having a squeeze bulb 28 for forcingair through tube 27. Inlet pipe 26 communicates with inlet chamber 20 to admit air into sounder 15 for making a moo sound. Also communicating with inlet chamber 20 through a short pipe 29, is an expandible action diaphragm 30 that expands when pressure increases in inlet chamber 20. A wall 31 extends between' inlet chamber 20 and action chamber 21 and has a bleed opening 32 to admit a regulated flow of air from inlet chamber 20 to actuator chamber 21.

A pipe 33 extending outward from action chamber 21 supports an expandible reservoir diaphragm 34 in communication with action chamber 21. Air flowing out of action chamber 21 passes over vibratory reed 23 and into outlet chamber 22 and in doing so vibrates reed 23 with the cooperation of reservoir diaphragm 34 to make an authentic sounding moo that is augmented by outlet chamber 22 in the form of a labryinth encircling inlet chamber 20 and action chamber 21. Diaphragms 30 and 34 cooperate to smooth out and extend the sound when squeeze bulb 28 is squeezed, and reservoir diaphragm 34 cooperates with reed 23 to provide a uniform, low-frequency, extended moo sound.

A link 35 connects to the end of actuator diaphragm 30 and to an eccentric recess 36 in head 13 for moving head 13 between its solid and broken-line positions as diaphragm 30 expands and contracts. The visual effect is head 13 nodding up and down as the moo sound occurs. The sound and the head movement are related, but both are energized by squeeze bulb 28 under the control of the child playing with the toy.

Another action feature of toy 10 is a wagging tail formed of a coil spring 37 having a knob 38 on its free end. Spring 37 is secured to rod 39 that has a loop 40 encircling a wobble cam 41 on rear axle 42 supporting rear wheels 12. Wobble cam 41 has a pair of eccentric lobes as illustrated to pivot loop 40 about the axis of rod 39 as rear axle 42 rotates. This puts a side-to-side twist on rod 39 that wags spring 37 back and forth as best shown in FIG. 2 as toy 10 rolls along.

The inventive toy is entertaining, safe and rugged, has an attractive appearance and an interesting action, and makes a much more authentic moo sound when bulb 28 is squeezed. Toy 10 can be pulled around by cord 27 and bulb 28, and can be made to moo and bob its head whenever bulb 28 is squeezed. This offers many play possibilities to a child, and is a more attractive and amusing cow toy than previously known.

Persons wishing to practice the'invention should remember that other embodiments and variations can be adapted to particular circumstances. Even though one point of view is necessarily chosenin describing and defining the invention, this should not inhibit broader or related embodiments going beyond the semantic orientation of this application but falling within the spirit of the invention. For example, those skilled in the art will appreciate the variations possible in applying the invention to a cow toy.

I claim:

1. A toy cow having a body on wheels and compris- I a. a sounder arranged in said body and having an inlet chamber, an action chamber, and an outlet chamber;

b. an expandible actuator diaphragm secured to said sounder in communication with said inlet chamber;

0. a wall having a bleed hole between said inlet chamber and said action chamber;

d. a vibratory reed in said action chamber;

e. an expandible reservoir diaphragm secured to said sounder in communication with said action chamber;

f. a tubular pull cord secured to said sounder in communication with said inlet chamber and extending forward out of said body; and

g. a squeeze bulb on the forward end of said tubular I 2. The toy of claim 1 wherein said outlet chamber is formed as a labyrinth encircling said inlet chamber and said action chamber.

3,792,550 3 4 I 3. The toy of claim 1 wherein said body has a pivot- 4. The toy of claim 3 wherein said outlet chamber is ally movable head, and a link extends between said actuator diaphragm and said head to pivot said head with expansion and contraction of said actuator diaphragm as said sounder actuates. 5

formed as a labyrinth encircling said inlet chamber and said action chamber. 

1. A toy cow having a body on wheels and comprising: a. a sounder arranged in said body and having an inlet chamber, an action chamber, and an outlet chamber; b. an expandible actuator diaphragm secured to said sounder in communication with said inlet chamber; c. a wall having a bleed hole between said inlet chamber and said action chamber; d. a vibratory reed in said action chamber; e. an expandible reservoir diaphragm secured to said sounder in communication with said action chamber; f. a tubular pull cord secured to said sounder in communication with said inlet chamber and extending forward out of said body; and g. a squeeze bulb on the forward end of said tubular pull cord for forcing air through said cord to actuate said sounder to produce a moo sound.
 2. The toy of claim 1 wherein said outlet chamber is formed as a labyrinth encircling said inlet chamber and said action chamber.
 3. The toy of claim 1 wherein said body has a pivotally movable head, and a link extends between said actuator diaphragm and said head to pivot said head with expansion and contraction of said actuator diaphragm as said sounder actuates.
 4. The toy of claim 3 wherein said outlet chamber is formed as a labyrinth encircling said inlet chamber and said action chamber. 